I have the curse of usually choosing a rather obscure character too. Sometimes from mangas. Mostly from video games (and more to come, yayyy). Of course that doesn't mean I don't cosplay from popular fandoms such as Vocaloid. I gotta say I like cosplaying obscure characters more because you may never know someone might recongize you and you would have at least tracked down a fan. And if not, .... well who cares? I cosplay for myself and for the characters I love. I get excited just making obscure characters and wearing them. That's more than enough for me really, haha!

I actually have the opposite opinion! I get really sad when people don't know who I am. I do like getting photographed. I do like people telling me I look like the character. I do like the attention. So not having anyone recognize me is a bit disheartening, considering I've spent all this time, effort and money.

(BTW, OP, you should totally cosplay that! Coming from a Kid Flash fan, and knowing that a lot of people watch Young Justice now, I'm sure a lot of people will recognize the fact it's a Kid Flash, even though they might not know which Kid Flash.)

I will echo what others have already said in that you should cosplay for yourself first and foremost; if it's a character that you really like, then go for it. The whole point of cosplay is to have fun pretending to be a favorite character of yours, not purely for recognition. You never know, you might be surprised at how many people recognize you

I love Jenny from the video game Bloody Roar. I know absolutely nobody will know who I am. But I loveee that character so who gives a damn.~

OMG. I haven't played Bloody Roar since the first game. I was convinced the series never continued becuase I couldn't find anything about it when I was much younger like in game stores so I never bothered googling about it ... until now that is. D: OMG. I will go and find the series now. I loved Bloody Roar! <3

I, personally, cosplay the characters for myself, and even though it's nice to be recognized it doesn't matter if I'm not.

Also, people who DO know the obscure and rarely-cosplayed characters love to see someone actually cosplaying them! At least I love seeing lesser-cosplayed/known characters from things I like. When I cosplayed Ika Musume, most people didn't seem to know who I was - but the few who did complimented me on my costume and were happy to see an Ika cosplayer.
Also if your costume looks fancy and cool, people might like it even though they don't know who you are. I've seen lots of great-looking costumes that I have no idea who they're supposed to be (or where I don't like the series much, but can still see it's a very nice costume)

the point is, it's your choice. whether it's important to you or not. It's ok if having people recognize you is important to you. Just be honest with yourself and evaluate how you feel. And then choose!

OMG. I haven't played Bloody Roar since the first game. I was convinced the series never continued becuase I couldn't find anything about it when I was much younger like in game stores so I never bothered googling about it ... until now that is. D: OMG. I will go and find the series now. I loved Bloody Roar! <3

hahah You just made me happy that you actually knew what Bloody Roar was. The Bloody Roar game I was referring to is Bloody Roar:Primal Fury. I had it for the GameCube. The more you know!

__________________Life's a fleeting dream don't let it go.
Ya gotta make the most of it you know.
Don't stop now, don't let it slip away,

When I go to cons for cosplaying, I don't necessarily expect many people to know my character, but I still cosplay as that character for the fun of cosplaying. Besides, even if not many people might know my character I'm fine as long as there are some who like to take pictures of me.

That said, my cosplay experience at Kawa kon yesterday was quite an interesting one. Despite that nobody (save for one or two people I met at the con) knew whom I was cosplaying as, many seemed to like my costume and wanted to take pictures with me.

__________________

"Times will bring that up over and over again. It's like I'm dying from my mental hemophilia..."
"Forgetting the past is easier said than done. You know it dies hard, and when it dies, it dies with you."

"This world is hell, we were born into hell. That doesn't change the fact that I can find ways to enjoy it."
"It's simply a matter of choice - this world sucks to you because you choose it to be so to you."

I think it's cool to cosplay as obscure characters! They deserve some love to. And the whole point is to have fun. I cosplayed for AX2012 as Mayuri Shiina from Steins;Gate. Although it was known Funimation picked it up, no dub was out yet. I watched it sub only as it premiered on Crunchyroll and totally wanted to cosplay her, because she's my favorite character. Before attending the actual gathering, I was stopped for 1 photo. However, even if it was only 1 solo photo, I still had fun. I was my favorite character from one of my all time favorite anime. True, I got more attention when I found other Steins;Gate cosplayers and the gathering started, but I thought it was cool I was recognized by at least 1 person by myself. And I'll be wearing her again this year!

Just put a lot of love into your costume, and rock that character! Cosplay is about fun and giving tribute to a character you like ^o^

I'm nervous about cosplaying as Iris West II Kid Flash (http://www.hyperborea.org/flash/bigimages/iris2.jpg) for Khaotic Kon and no one knowing who I'm suposed to be. Expecially since it's more of an anime convention than anything else and she's not a really well known character either...

I don't know, am I just being stupid?

There are no rules on what type of costume is and is not allowed to conventions. I've cosplayed anime to comic conventions and book characters to anime cons.

It depends.
Are you cosplaying for the purpose of other people knowing and recognizing who you are? If you are cosplaying with the intention of being noticed or having a lot of attention from being a well known or popular character then you may find yourself disappointed.

If your cosplaying for your own personal enjoyment then you will never be disappointed.

It's just a choice you have to make; are you going to consider other people's attention to you as part of the costumes success?

I don't think it's a stupid thing to worry over. People have slightly varying intentions when cosplaying. Some people don't mind cosplaying obscure characters and barely getting any recognition, while others would feel disappointed that their work of art is getting overlooked in a sea of really popular characters. Everyone has their own preferences.

So far, I've only cosplayed once so far and it was a very obscure character - heck, she doesn't even have a name! LOL It was of the Tree Youkai in the fourth episode of the third season of Natsume Yuujinchou, so only big fans of the series would recognize the character. I'd say 99.9% of the con-goers didn't know who I was cosplaying, but I did meet some really cool Natsume Yuujinchou fans like myself, which was nice because the series deserves more love. Even if it wasn't for them, it was a lot of fun just dressing up and walking around like that!

This year, I'll be cosplaying more recognizable characters so we'll see how that turns out xD I'm a little uncomfortable in front of cameras and crowds, which I could avoid while cosplaying an obscure character, but we'll see how I feel about being more recognized...

In the end, just decide what *you* want to do and what you want to get out of your cosplaying experience. Still, I think that if you love that character, you should go for it!

It's really what you want to get out of your cosplay. Some people cosplay their favorite character, be it an obscure character or someone so well known you'll probably see 5 more of them. Some people want to be "the only one" at the Con. Other people WANT to be noticed and will cosplay accordingly.

I personally cosplay whoever I feel like cosplaying. At Anime Vegas 2011 I cosplayed Ken Amada from Persona 3. 2 people recognized me, but I had a blast. Anime Vegas 2012, I cosplayed Honey-senpai, and I was constantly swarmed with people. Also a blast, but in very different ways.

hahah You just made me happy that you actually knew what Bloody Roar was. The Bloody Roar game I was referring to is Bloody Roar:Primal Fury. I had it for the GameCube. The more you know!

<3 Dudes, you totally made my day too! There should be more Bloody Roar lovers out there. I think it's friggin awesome! <3 Hahaha! Omg. On the gamecube?! I'm going to go seek it out right nowwww! <3 Hahahaha.

Quote:

Originally Posted by aimee

the point is, it's your choice. whether it's important to you or not. It's ok if having people recognize you is important to you. Just be honest with yourself and evaluate how you feel. And then choose!

Totally agree with you. :3 There is nothing wrong with wanting people to recongize you or even the opposite where you're doing it for your own amusment/self.